ICC defers decision on CT date

The ICC on Thursday deferred a decision on the new dates of the Champions Trophy till next month but said Pakistan still retained the right to host the prestigious tournament.

The global governing body also admitted that some cricket boards have objected to the staging of the eight-nation prestigious tournament in October next year.

India had objected to that date because of its ODI series against Australia the same month and ICC President David Morgan told reporters at a press conference in Dubai that there was still disagreement over the ICC's plan to hold the tournament in October 2009.

The ICC Board and CEC, after two-day meeting, decided that CEO Haroon Lorgat would engage Member Boards in this regard and discuss the matter in ICC Board meeting next month.

"Lorgat will engage with Member Boards likely to be affected by the rescheduling of the tournament to September/October 2009 and he would report back to the ICC Board on the result of that engagement at its next meeting, in October," Morgan said.

Pakistan was scheduled to host the Champions Trophy this September, but the ICC postponed it after several teams refused to participate due to security concerns.

Morgan said cricket's governing body did not seek an alternative host to Pakistan during the council's meeting.

The CEC also decided to continue the trial of Umpire Referral System, which took place in the recent Sri Lanka-India Test series, to some upcoming series before its actual implementation.

A final report on the Umpire Referral System will be submitted by ICC umpires' and referees' manager Vince van der Bijl and ICC umpires' manager Doug Cowie after the trials to ICC Cricket Committee in May next year and it will then be considered by the CEC in June.

The primacy of ICC events over bilateral series was also restated during the meeting besides the Future Tours Programme post 2012.

With the current FTP due to conclude in May 2012, the concept of an alternative structure to bilateral tours, including the possibility of an enhanced Test championship, was discussed and majority of the boards supported further exploration of the enhanced model.

The key considerations for both the ICC Board and the CEC included: All three formats of international cricket should be promoted with Test cricket identified as the pinnacle of the sport; the 'icon' Test series must be protected; the conceptof a Test Championship should be explored further.